Tombolo
by Dim Aldebaran
Summary: A beach promenade with the family turns into something more... A Christmas fic for The White Lily. [Artemii & Angeline, light angst, 12LH, nominated for Best Short, Best Misc Genre & Best Characterization in the Orion Awards]


T O M B O L O

- Dim Aldebaran -

_Dedicated to The White Lily—or rather, Whilily—on a fine Christmas Day-After_

**:i:**

Mothers, a petulant Artemis decided, were the bane of basic human dignity.

Mother insisted on—the like of these outings, these—these _debaucheries_! They were ridiculous!—utterly and irrevocably _absurd! _Did Mother expect him to derive some sort of—perverse _enjoyment, _some particular pleasure, some—_fun_ from such frivolities? It was—_recreation_, pure, irrational, useless _recreation, _distraction!_—_

Artemis sighed inwardly as the Bentley stilled. And yet, he was helpless against the coercive power of his parents. Despite all his best efforts, they still had a stranglehold on his life, from the idiot school he attended to the places he frequented. The day he was free of them, the day he was free of their presence would be one of supreme happiness, he was sure.

Mother had already slipped from the Bentley, and was observing the conditions outside. Artemis sniffed disapprovingly. Sunshine. He had been hoping for clouds, or at least a stiff breeze, to perhaps encourage an earlier departure. The weather would be another thing to look into; climate control…

Artemis sighed, and folded his laptop up with only a longing glance at the Feynman text he had downloaded. So much to read, so little time. Already at ten years old, he could feel the inevitable creep of mortality upon him, the first step: the awareness of the finite life, the fear, and the resulting desperation: Life is short! and yet he would waste it on a beach promenade?

Butler opened the door for him; a good man, Butler, always did as expected of him, with a certain mindlessness Artemis appreciated, for all his ideals of autonomy and . Artemis stepped out of the Bentley gingerly, already fearing for his Armanis, and inspected his surroundings more carefully.

Irish beaches were hardly of the… popular variety. Though the Gulf Stream had warm waters lapping at its shores, as well as providing a famously mild climate, it was still hardly enough to justify the crowds of, say, Cancun. Furthermore, the same Gulf Stream weather led to frequent cloud cover and drizzle, hardly decent fodder for the tourist department.

The sand beaches lacked that picturesque contrast of colors as well. They were drab things, by and by, with colorless sand, pale skies and gray water. Even the driftwood was silvered, and the rushes a strained sort of gold.

Indeed, the brightest thing on this beach was Mother's dress, a navy blue somewhere between serenity and severity. Father didn't like it when Mother wore her _really_ bright dresses, Artemis knew, the ones with the scrawled floral prints and the careless brush strokes of lucid colors, though he didn't know why. True, they were untidy things, but aesthetics were a subjective thing, and if she _wanted_ to wear tattered flowers then she could _wear_ tattered flowers. It wasn't as if many would associate her with the Fowl name. Father so rarely brought her to the parties, anymore.

"Timmy?" she said aloud, though it really wasn't a question. "Timmy, _do_ come out. It's quite fine, really, quite balmy..."

She trailed off when it was made apparent that she was only talking to someone in her mind. She then turned to Artemis, still standing on the asphalt parking lot, but the strained blue of the skies silhouetted the tight bun and the lines of her face. "Arty? Can you fetch my shawl?"

Artemis turned to Butler and made a gesture; Butler went to the trunk of the Bentley. Mother, saying it was balmy out but then requiring a jacket…

Mother turned away from him again, and began walking out onto the sand; but not before Artemis caught a pained expression on her face. Looking down, he saw that the knife of her heels sunk into the sand, leaving her off-balanced; that must be why.

Artemis tugged at his suit as the final door of the Bentley opened; Father. He had been finishing the business section of _The New York Times_. "Father," he prompted.

Father inclined his head in acknowledgement. "Artemis. I suspect you're wondering how long this little… endeavor will take?"

Artemis nodded, surprised. Father was not usually so blunt; he had always preached subtlety. "Yes, I—am, admittedly." He smiled. "It _is_ a Thursday, after all."

"Quite so," Father said, nodding approvingly, and shading his eyes against the pale glare of the sun on the waves as he looked out across the Atlantic. "Tell your mother that we will not be long."

Artemis turned to him with a frown. "Father…?"

Father's face was clouded; with memory, or pain, Artemis couldn't tell, though he was quite sure it was only one. "Tell her, and then return. There are—matters we need to discuss."

Artemis blinked, surprised, then turned and began walking briskly across the sand. He felt the first sand particles begin to work their way through his Chanel socks; alpaca and silk, no less. It would have to be washed by hand. Pity; Butler was better put to use in other affairs.

Mother stood, though her placement in front of a large piece of driftwood indicated she would like to sit down, but feared for her dignity. She stared out to sea, eyes unfocused.

"Mother?"

She turned to him, blinking rapidly as if to dispel the sudden water in her eyes. The sand, in all likelihood. "Yes?"

Artemis dressed up the words; otherwise, they seemed so hideously bare and uncivilized when faced with nature. "Father would like me to inform you that we will be joining you shortly for the promenade."

Mother's mouth twisted. "Tell him I appreciate the courtesy, but that I will not be long either." She turned to the sea; though there was no wind to bring more sand into her eyes, the irritant was obviously increasing. A sloppy bit of wetness rolled down a bare cheek. "It is a terrible day for a promenade."

Artemis nodded, choosing not to remark on the fact she had seemed remarkably keen on beaches just a few moments earlier. He wondered if it had something to do with Father, this morning: he had come to breakfast this morning, instead of having it delivered to his study, and he seemed to smile more. He had gathered that there was an important transaction completed the night before, which led him to attend to less important affairs, such as family.

But that made little sense. Mother, being one for _family values_ and the like, would surely appreciate a more attentive husband to both her and her son, even in such a menial place as the breakfast table?

By the time he returned to Father, he had managed a state of curiosity normally reserved for his books. Father had evidently dismissed the Major, who now scanned the horizon for potential threats from a nearby dune crest. Whatever was to be said, it was meant for a Fowl's ears only.

"Mother says she will not be long either," Artemis reported obediently.

Father nodded, his eyes unfocused much as Mother's had been, but without that shine. Father must be more careful about getting sand in the eyes.

Artemis stood there for several moments, waiting; but he had not learned patience yet. "There was something you wished to speak to me about?"

Father smiled, and finally turned to him. "Yes, there is… and before I begin, I must have you understand that these are not my words, for they were taught to me by my father; nor his, for they were _his_ father's, and so forth. What I will be telling you is… an old thing, a graced thing, something that transcends even the Fowls. These words you will one day teach to your son, as well; and to his son, and to his, until an End comes, and there will only be what has transcended us."

Father paused, waiting for Artemis to absorb this. When he was satisfied with Artemis' expression, he continued. "We stand on a beach, today, with the sand below us, the sea before us, and the sky above us.

"You see, a stone, once broken from the cliffs, will be shattered into smaller stones by the inevitable action of the waves, pounding these innumerably stones against each other. The stones shatter into smaller and smaller pieces until they become this sand, smooth, uniform, a mere background for the stones yet to be shattered into sand."

Father bent and took a stone in his hands with an embryonic or sepulchral drift of sand beneath it, gray on gray. "And we are all stones, my son. We are stones, our genesis only another shattering of one shard from a greater one, and that is what we do: life itself wears us down, breaking us in all inevitabilities until we are mere sand. The shards of our lives may be seen, perhaps, and may in turn change the wear of another stone, but in the end it _is_ only sand, it is so little that it is nothing."

Artemis watched as the sand slipped through his fingers until only the stone remained, smooth and gray in the cage of Father's pale fingers.

"But all stones are not equal. Some are larger than others due to mere consequence of genesis, and will in all likelihood fare longer as a stone before it turns into sand. Those that are smaller—are of little consequence. They will wear at you, my son, as any other stone might. There are others that are more pleasing to the eye: perhaps they sparkle in the sunlight, or they have a pleasant grain. Never concern yourself with these, unless the aesthetics also function as an indicator to other qualities."

Father had held his gaze to the stone in his hand for much of the time. Now, his eyes met Artemis with that particular urgency of truth. "And—there are other stones, other stones of different substance, harder stones… and we are harder stones. We are of a different substance than these others, for the waves do not break us as easily, nor are the shards of our lives so easily forgotten. We are Fowl, Artemis; and you must always remember this. We are Fowl, and though it is inevitable, we must always fight off the day when we become mere sand…"

Father took the stone and, carefully, folded it within Artemis' hands. It felt cold, almost icy,

"We fear to be forgotten," Artemis whispered slowly, "as the Norse fear their Ragnorak."

Father smiled with all the warmth of the winter sun, looking out to sea once more. "It is a hopeless task, but that is what we do; we fight, for the struggle is all there is, and in our struggle we wax and wane…"

"Camus," Artemis said promptly, "or Sartres."

"Shall I say it in Latin?"

"But _I_ thought—"

Father laughed, low and resonant. Artemis hadn't heard him laugh like that since he was too young to separate fantasy from reality. "_Aurum potestas est_ is mere derivation, I am afraid, for these modern times."

"It has been modern since Caesar, then."

"Caesar was the first modern man."

Artemis blinked. _De bello gallico_ had hardly struck him as 'modern'. "But Father, what of—"

Father waved his comment aside. It was as if a burning brand had been passed over Artemis's eyes; there was a sudden wrench in his belly when he realized the tone he had addressed Father with, the camaraderie, the frivolity. Artemis could not tell if it was shame or disappointment; he was of that age when such particular emotions are exquisitely hidden behind the bright doors of pain and pleasure, good and bad, right and wrong. "Your mother is waiting, I am afraid. Come."

Father began walking; from his dunetop the Major paralleled him. Artemis had to walk indignantly fast to keep up with Father's long stride as they waded through the sea of sand and onto the hard crust of asphalt.

Mother was still on the beach. With an idle gesture Father sent Butler to fetch her before the Major arrived and opened Father's door. Father settled in his seat and picked up his newspaper once more.

Artemis stood there on the black asphalt on a gray day, watching as Butler approach Mother with tact: facing away, several steps behind, head lowered, hands behind his back. Respect, from mountain to the sea.

Mother turned to Butler; Artemis watched as her slow, unsteady gaze found its way to the car and she began walking. He watched her stumble, once, twice, Butler offering to help but being refused out of dignity. Pride is the best cure for intoxication, after all. Artemis briefly wondered if she had touched the liquor cabinet, as he had read many woman with uncertain husbands did.

He blinked as curious new gears began to click and clink in a smooth, greased procession, as inevitable as the waves, as only a blind-divine watchmaker could create:

She was a stone, she was wearing into sand too soon—

Father was wearing her down, Father, _Father_—

He stood very still.

Mother arrived; Butler opened her door, and then Artemis'. Mother climbed in unsteadily, her gaze lowered to inspect the creases in her military dress of navy blue, and her hand; reaching down and straightening them, from habit, almost a comfort, almost a penance.

Artemis raised his gaze: eyes as fathomless as the sea roamed out across the gray beach, following the smooth contours of the sand and stones on and on and on to eternity, and—_past—_

Artemis blinked, and entered the Bentley.

In his hands he clutched at a small gray stone.

**:i:**

**  
Dedication to The White Lily.**

Well, my selfish little reason for this is that I'm going to use it for the fanfic100 prompt of 'parents' and the 12LH Artemii prompt. And maybe I'll get some lovely concrit, too. Christmas, right?

As far as that's concerned, I was trying to write less opaquely, since this is intended for someone, and I'd rather that this make sense to her, and I'm fairly certain that I usually don't. So, the writing style is a bit mussed since I've forgotten how to not write for myself, which is… weird. I allowed myself the title and some little bits near the end. So yeah. Concrit much appreciated on all that.

And when you drop a review, wish Whilily happy holidays and such. :)


End file.
